SHALE OIL IN COLORADO

There is an enormous amount of shale oil in the U.S. and Shell Oil company set up a demonstration project to test one way of extracting the oil. The Shell site doesn't seem to report how much energy and water is needed to extract the oil but I found a few other sources.

A CBS report, "Squeezing Oil From A Stone," mentioned mentioned that there were significant costs:

The technology requires a lot of electricity and a lot of water. Three barrels of water for every one barrel of oil that that comes out of the shale.

The Salt Lake Tribune provides a little more information:

Utah senators slam congressional oil-shale development moratorium
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/02/2008 10:09:47 AM MDT

Oil shale development requires huge amounts of water and electricity and emits tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas emission most responsible for global climate disruption.

The Utah Division of Water Resources has said Utah's share of the Colorado River could soon be fully allocated, so where the water would come from is unclear.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Southwest, there are several states that depend on drinking water from the Colorado river, so the development of shale oil will not be painless by any means. As it is, global warming may greatly reduce the amount of water available for any use.